Strategic Plan: Progress Report
History of the Plan
The Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University launched its strategic plan, Realizing Our Ambition: Defining a New Era at Dalhousie Medicine, in early 2023 after an extensive consultation process involving faculty, staff, students, and stakeholders.
This plan was designed to articulate the Faculty’s long-term aspirations and provide a clear, actionable roadmap for the next five years. It builds on existing strengths while setting new standards for excellence and accountability in education, research, and social engagement. The plan emphasizes four strategic streams—Excellence in Education, High-Impact Research, Serving and Engaging Society, and Valuing People—alongside cross-cutting themes: EDIA and our Maritime Role.
Its development marked a deliberate effort to create a shared vision that reflects respect for the Faculty’s history while embracing innovation and inclusivity for the future.
Since its launch, the Faculty has made significant progress in implementing the plan’s priorities. Town halls and departmental consultations throughout 2023 and 2024 provided opportunities to review achievements, address challenges, and gather feedback. Initiatives have included curriculum renewal, fostering interdisciplinary research collaborations, and creating safer, more inclusive learning environments. The plan has also driven efforts to attract diverse student cohorts and strengthen partnerships with healthcare and community organizations. These actions underscore the Faculty’s commitment to transforming medical education and research while ensuring that people and culture remain at the heart of its mission. The ongoing work reflects a collective ambition to position the Faculty of Medicine as a leader responsive to regional health needs and global standards of excellence.
Across the Faculty, the strategic plan has also served as a unifying framework for departmental strategic planning, ensuring greater alignment and coherence in priorities, goals, and measures of success. Departments have used the plan’s four strategic streams and cross-cutting themes as a foundation to review and refine their own plans, resulting in more consistent integration of education, research, community engagement, and people-focused initiatives.
The Strategic Plan Progress Report offers a comprehensive look at the meaningful progress our Faculty community has made in advancing our shared priorities. Faculty, students, and staff are encouraged to explore the stories, milestones, and initiatives that reflect our collective efforts to realize our ambition. While we are proud of what has been achieved to date, this work is ongoing, and continued engagement from across our community will be essential as we build on this momentum and shape what comes next.